Casey and the Search for Perfect
by bahjcb
Summary: Casey finds that perfect isn't as easy to find as she would hope.


A/N: This story is dedicated to **wprincessannw** because she gave me the idea!

Disclaimer: It looks like I will _never_ own the rights to LWD – I'm very sad about that in all honesty.

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Sam wasn't Casey's first kiss. Her first kiss was an embarrassment to all kisses and memories and something Casey would soon as forget. Two preteens with no experience and one of them having braces and the other being a klutz should not be allowed within ten feet of each other, let alone be allowed to kiss.

Regardless of that, the first kiss with Sam was okay. It wasn't bad, but it was much too soft. The entire time, Sam let Casey lead the way.

At the time, Casey just told herself that it was a first kiss. Once she and Sam got used to kissing each other it would get better. It did, but it was never spectacular. There was never any real sparks. That was probably why they were able to so easily become friends after they broke up. Casey had never become friends with any other ex.

Kissing Max, or as Derek liked to call him: Captain Cardboard, was way too dry. It was like kissing because that is what two people who are dating do. There was no real emotion at all. Not even the friendly ones that she had with Sam. Casey never realized this until long after she and Max had stopped dating. At the time she was far too caught up in being with someone as popular as Max to ever consider the fact that kissing him was like kissing the cardboard Derek insisted her boyfriend was made of.

Coming to her last mistake in dating, Truman, Casey realized that kissing him was way too hard, too demanding. He never let her lead or let on that she could.

Max had never made Casey become a cheerleader or forget who she was. She had done that because that was what she thought was expected of her. With Truman, however, she always felt like he had an agenda and was trying to push it on her. His mind games being an excellent example of that. Breaking up with Truman had ended up being more of a relief than Casey had ever let on. In fact, after his kisses, Casey had no desire to try out any others for some time.

Just like all of Casey's plans, however, this one didn't turn out very well. Not too long after breaking up with Truman, Casey finally found the perfect kiss. It wasn't too soft, never too dry, and absolutely not too hard. In fact, it was just right.

The kiss had come out of nowhere, Casey was never expecting it (though everyone she knew questioned that statement when she made it). It had been a perfectly normal day where she and Derek were continually sniping at each other. Then, Derek had said something that really pushed Casey's buttons and she slapped him.

In a move reminiscent of an old Cary Grant movie, _Father Goose_, Derek slapped her back. Shocked, Casey returned the slap. Who knows how long this juvenile behavior would have gone on if Derek hadn't taken matters into his own hands.

Catching Casey's wrist as she reached up to slap him once more, Derek pulled her against him and kissed her with a passion that made her week at the knees. Instead of just letting her melt against him, however, Derek prodded her to return the pressure. Soon, Casey found herself in a battle of wills that had their lips dancing against each other in a pattern that excited her and teased her all at once.

Evidently Derek agreed because sometime during the kissing he pointed out that they were now dating. Casey argued that they had yet to go on a date and she wasn't admitting anything until that time. She never actually thought he would ask her one, but he did.

As time went on, Casey found that kissing Derek never grew stale and was always perfect—a combination she decided she couldn't do without. Surprising Derek with her forward thinking, because despite being a feminist Casey was a romantic at heart, she asked him to marry her. Surprising _her_, he said yes.

Now over fifty years, three kids, a mortgage, and a string of various pets later, Casey found that kissing Derek was _still_ just right.


End file.
